


By Axolotl's Grace

by AshCrimson



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Eye Trauma, Hospitals, Human Bill Cipher, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Reincarnation, Slow Burn, Triangle Bill Cipher
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-13 23:44:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18041351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshCrimson/pseuds/AshCrimson
Summary: Bill Cipher invoked the ancient name so he may return.What he didn't count on was being thrown across dimensions before being shoved into a new form.





	1. Prologue/This Must Be Hell

**Author's Note:**

> So uh. I vanished for a few years. And now I'm back with a Gravity Falls fic three years late?
> 
> So this first chapter was a tad experimental and the tone is kinda intentionally different than how I plan the rest of the fic to be (namely an intentional lack of using names until the end of the chapter). Mostly because it is 100% set up/prologue. And I wanted to mess with a fun weird idea of reincarnation.
> 
> Bill is really quiet in this first chapter, but the whole thing was suposed to have a passive setup tone so I hope you'll forgive me. He's not gonna be quiet for long LMAO. The lack of dialogue is a mix of that and he's really out of it because he was in a hellish dimension for a while there, shit'll mess with you. You can expect way more classic nonsense in the next chapter that I actually already started on before finishing this.
> 
> So anyway, CONTENT WARNINGS: Eye trauma, dissociation(?), manslaughter, mugging gone wrong

It must have been an eternity since he found himself in a place he didn’t recognise. At first he tried to convince himself he was okay with his new ‘home,’ but one could only take so many attacks and so much torment from the denizens of a place they can’t understand. Even more to his at first frustration and later resignation, his powers had no effect on them, which meant all he could do was attempt to take futile preventative measures. Was this Hell? It was probably Hell.

Distorted, incomprehensible roars echoed all around. The barrier around himself would soon become too weak to ward off whatever these…entities tried to do. They couldn’t really be called animals, creatures, even monsters didn’t really describe them. There was a monstrous shape to some of them, as it were, but it wasn’t that simple. Nothing in this cursed place made sense, even to a being whose very self-proclaimed purpose was the absurd. This place (dimension?) wasn’t just weird, it defied what weirdness could be.

At some point, around what he was guessing was at least 500 years of being here, he lost touch with whatever reality meant in this situation. It was like he was feeling what humans he tormented felt as he gave them nightmares, only he shouldn’t be able to experience that himself. But it wasn’t like losing consciousness either, it was all the time. Fuzziness, like everything was just a bit too out of reach for what he assumed was what was left of his mind. All he had was time and what little he could manage to do with his powers, which didn’t mean much.

Time definitely existed here. It didn’t feel the same as the dimension he had tried to take over’s time did, he really couldn’t tell you if it had only actually been weeks or if it had been millennia, but it was definitely a concept here. Because he could feel it wearing on him, stretching his mind more and more until it was so thin it was like tissue paper. Sometimes he thought of that place, the town he briefly ruled over. Sometimes the name was barely there, like it would flake off at any moment, but somehow he never seemed to quite lose it: _Gravity Falls._

As his magic barrier flickered he briefly wondered what those…things would do to him this time. Somehow, no matter what they did, he never died. Maybe they were playing with him, maybe this was all a hallucination or, even more disturbing a thought, actually a dream like it felt. He couldn’t explain what they did to him exactly. It was sort of like being ripped apart while being stuffed full of toxic undercooked cake, also while having acidic cotton candy pumped into your veins. It definitely wasn’t pleasant.

Could you say he was scared? Sure, yeah. All the time, honestly. It was a foreign feeling to him for maybe the first few centuries (or at least what felt like the first few centuries), but he got used to it. It wasn’t like it was going anywhere given everything here. No matter what he did, it only delayed the inevitable. No rest, no comprehension, he simply…existed. When the barrier smashed from one of the entities attacking it, he briefly considered not fleeing. There were plenty of times he didn’t delay the inevitable.

But, this time he did try to escape. It didn’t matter, but there were only so many options. Assumed hour after hour and the being wouldn’t let up on him. Still he continued, suddenly seeing something in this place he’d never seen before. It looked like a gem, if gems were made of liquid and also were plants. Yeah, didn’t make a horrible amount of sense, but that was to be expected. Somehow, he knew it was a portal of some sort despite the bizarre form. Something told him that was there for him. So he rushed towards it, as fast as he could float, feeling himself straining to focus more than he had in a very, very long time.

As he touched it, he was simultaneously engulfed in blinding light and suffocating darkness, as well as the worst, most disgusting yet incredible feeling of everything in his existence being reoriented, like a dislocated joint being popped back into place but completely remade. Distantly, the roars, or whatever you could call them, of the being perusing him faded as if being cleansed away. Vaguely, he was aware he was a concept that made more sense where he was going, as the fabric of existence started rejecting him less.

It took weeks (again, based on what could be grasped of the idea of time passing), but eventually darkness surrounded him. This was unlike the darkness that had assaulted him at the beginning of his transition between planes, this was softer and faintly he registered that it should feel more familiar to him. But he didn’t care, he wasn’t sure if he actually felt anything. It was all so much less than everything in the place he was before. The absence of so many things at all times gave him more peace than he knew what to do with.

Eventually it became too underwhelming and he finally forced himself into a consciousness that could actively process things around it. When he opened his eye he was nearly blinded. The kind of light he experienced also paled in comparison to what he had been subjected to just a while ago, but it was at least shocking. Blinking, he adjusted very slowly and took in his surroundings. Everything was grey with occasional colour in seemingly important details. This felt…good, right, exactly where he should be. Something felt off about it, but he was swept up in being a place that was welcoming for once.

The Dreamscape!

As he finally processed where he was, he quickly realised an invisible force was pulling him...somewhere. It was comparatively much better than before, but between everything feeling different in the Dreamscape somehow and being supernaturally drug who knows where he was quickly very, very annoyed. He also had questions he was sure no one would answer, like why he was _here_ instead of the Nightmare Realm; not that he minded, but it didn’t make sense. None of this made sense, and not in a fun way. He struggled uselessly against whatever was pulling him, to no avail.

“If you don’t let me go, **I’ll—** ” his baseless threat was cut off as he realised he was being taken towards two people he didn’t recognise. Two men he assumed, based on whatever weird gender norms humans assigned to themselves. One was taller, and he was seemingly about to attack the shorter man with a knife. Ugh, why was he being subjected to watching petty human violence? Sure, it was amusing, but definitely less so when he didn’t have a choice in seeing it. The force that had made him come here seemed to stop pulling him, but to his frustration now he couldn’t leave. May as well enjoy the nonsense then.

The shorter man, who was given the nickname ‘blondie’ by the demon forced to witness his dilemma, was pleading with the man silently dubbed ‘knife.’ (Had he actually been addressing these people he’d come up with something better, but he frankly didn’t care.) “Knife” obviously didn’t care, quickly grabbing “Blondie” and attempting to get the smaller man’s wallet. ‘Ugh, a mugging, booooring,’ the demon watching thought to himself, internally cursing whatever was making him watch this pathetic scene. “Blondie” struggled and bit the arm “Knife” had around his neck, causing “Knife” to quickly lose his temper. It happened fast, the pocket knife was plunged into the smaller man’s right eye and “Blondie” cried out before going limp. “Knife,” visibly horrified at seemingly accidentally taking another life, grabbed the wallet from the lifeless body and ran. 

The demon sighed, of course it ended like that. Boring. But his disinterest was quickly wiped away when the invisible force began dragging him again, this time much more quickly and towards “Blondie’s” body. “What are you doing!?” he demanded of the invisible force, but of course there was no reply. It felt like something was tossing him when he was forcibly put inside the empty vessel. When he could process what happened, all he was aware of was pain in the right side of his face and how weak his limbs were. Vaguely he realised he was possessing the body of the person he just saw get murdered. “Ugh, what kind of sick joke is this? Sick jokes are my thing...” he protested before his new body fell unconscious.

To be fair, Bill had definitely had worse days.

Distantly, footsteps got louder as someone was quickly approaching.


	2. Lucky Timing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What started as a stroll and conquering a fear became a mess quickly.

Dipper stared at the empty shell of Bill Cipher’s former physical body in terror. After the shock wore off, he felt embarrassed. He’d jumped back and fallen on his rear from a mere static shock when he jokingly “shook” the statue’s hand. He glanced around quickly then readjusted his cap before standing up; he and Wendy had switched hats back the next summer he visited, but that had been nine years ago now. "Bill's not suddenly alive again, I'm just being paranoid," Dipper reassured himself aloud. Bill had been gone since Grunkle Ford erased him and the statue hadn't changed in all that time, there was no reason it would now.

Dipper gave the statue an uncomfortable and suspicious glare before he started on his way back towards the Mystery Shack. He’d visited it every summer he came back to Gravity Falls, constantly anxious it would have one day moved or come back to life. The first few times Mabel went with him and teased him. After he turned sixteen he stopped specifying where he was going when he went out to see it, saying he was just taking a walk, only visiting Bill’s “grave” if Mabel didn’t feel like going with on a walk that day. Today he’d finally decided enough was enough about his paranoia and decided to shake the statue’s outstretched hand, just as a joke. He’d always been vague with therapists, but maybe the sessions did help. He definitely was better off than he had expected to be after the events of Weirdmageddon, but therapy did help with the issues he did have whether they developed before, after, or were intensified by the apocalypse.

Dipper was lost in thoughts of the past summers when he faintly heard someone cry out in what sounded like pain, coming from the direction of the town. He hesitated for just a moment, considering if it was some creature attempting to trap him, but given it was a very bright and sunny day and that it was in the direction of the road leading into town, he took his chances and broke into a mad dash in its direction. Running after and away from various horrifying creatures through the years definitely built up his stamina; he still couldn’t say he had anything above average arm strength, but he could definitely outrun or at least keep up with most people now. Just as he was becoming slightly winded, someone running straight towards him came into view. He was too late to try to get out of the way or call out, the person half ran into half shoved Dipper in his haste. “Hey! Watch out!” was all Dipper could manage as he stumbled over to the side.

But whoever that was wasn’t responding or stopping and Dipper decided he didn’t have time to deal with some random jerk that bulldozed him; besides, it’s not like Dipper wasn’t used to similar treatment from his years in high school. Quickly pushing himself back up, he broke back into a sprint as fast as possible to make up for the incident with the stranger in a hurry. He soon saw a person laying on the ground and noticed as he got closer that there was blood surrounding their head. “Oh, holy shit!” Dipper gasped out as he sped up to the unconscious body, careful to not lose his balance as he abruptly came to a halt. Gravity Falls was a wild town, but never like this! He quickly ripped his phone out of his pocket and dialled 9-1-1 before taking off his vest; it was grey as opposed to the bluish one Dipper wore when he was younger, but his overall sense of style didn’t change much. He held his phone to his ear with his shoulder and quietly begged “come on, come on, pick up” as he rolled the bleeding person over to press his vest to the wound; he cringed when he saw that the blood was coming from their eye but quickly pressed his vest to it anyway.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” the operator finally picked up. “Oh thank God! I have someone here, I think they’re dying! There’s a lot of blood!” Dipper responded frantically as he realised he wasn’t sure if this person was breathing. “Where are you, sir?” “The road to the Mystery Shack! Please hurry!” “We’re sending paramedics right away.” Dipper felt his chest was tight as he struggled to listen to the operator’s instructions on how to best help the person he realised he was currently in charge of the life of. Trying to focus through his panic, he did as he was told to keep the injury as elevated as possible without removing any pressure. He wanted to throw up from all the blood that covered everything around him and now was all over his hands. He was shaking violently when the paramedics arrived what felt like hours later. He felt unbearably anxious as they took the person from him and loaded them onto a stretcher then into the ambulance. He begged to be able to go with, but the police forced him to stay behind for questioning.

“I don’t know anything! Please let me go with, I need to know they’re okay!” Dipper pleaded, but the officers wouldn’t budge. “Can’t do that, sir. This appears to be assault with a weapon so we need to ask you some questions. The paramedics will take care of him,” the officer immediately in front of Dipper stated coldly. “A-assault!? Here!?” Dipper shouted, increasingly more distraught. Who the _fuck_ would assault someone in Gravity Falls? “The guy who ran,” Dipper said, quickly remembering he was thrown to the ground on the way to the now-apparent crime scene. “What was that?” the officer asked, raising an eyebrow. “Th-there was a guy who ran into me as I was running in the direction I heard someone yell! He was running away from town, into the woods,” Dipper informed quickly, now full of anger towards that stranger all over again. “It had to be him.” Some of the officers took off after the lead he gave them, while he was driven to the police station for further questioning. To his relief, the station had Sheriff Blubs do the interrogation, probably so he was more likely to be honest.

Dipper was free to go within a few hours, and Sheriff Blubs offered him a ride home which he accepted given that he lacked a car. The ride was awkwardly silent, Dipper constantly fidgeting and literally worried sick. He’d barely eaten anything today but he had no appetite. They had to keep his clothes as evidence so he was wearing a hoodie made of scratchy material that he hated and sweatpants. As they pulled up to the Shack and Dipper got out, Sheriff Blubs asked him to hang on for a moment. Dipper closed the door and walked over to the driver side as the sheriff rolled down the window. “Hey Dipper, if you ever need anything you know I’m here for you. I know you didn’t do this,” Blubs said earnestly. “Thanks,” Dipper sighed, “But I really just want to see the victim, you know? It’s kinda scarring to have someone bleeding out on you.” “Yeah, I can imagine,” Blubs nodded. “We’ll call you as soon as we have updates. Take care, okay?” After Dipper nodded gently, Sheriff Blubs rolled up the window and drove back towards town.

Dipper sighed as he walked into the Mystery Shack where Soos’ wife, Melody, greeted him cheerily. He waved and mumbled about being tired and hurried upstairs, feeling bad he must’ve worried her. As soon as he entered the room and shut the door, Mabel knew something was up. “What happened, Dipper? You were out for hours and you’re wearing new clothes! Plus you look like you’ve seen a ghost, if, like, ghosts weren’t something we see every week,” she added the last part jokingly, but the genuine concern was there. “I...almost saw someone die today. I had to call the paramedics, the victim’s eye was stabbed out,” he sighed. Mabel immediately covered her mouth in shock before getting up to hug him. He reciprocated, before saying he really just wanted to sleep. He’d definitely be up all night if he did, but he didn’t care, he was exhausted. Mabel nodded and told him to let her know if he needed anything. He didn’t even bother changing out of his uncomfortable replacement clothes before flopping down, and soon he fell into a restless sleep. 

## ◬◬◬

It was two days before Dipper got clearance to see the victim at the hospital. They still didn’t know his name because his wallet was missing, nor had they found the suspect. Dipper guessed he’d been ruled out since he was allowed to visit, which relieved him after they interrogated everyone else at the Shack which forced him to explain to Soos and Melody what happened. He was sort of surprised though, given he didn’t have a solid alibi nor were there any other witnesses other than the missing suspect. Dipper tried to keep all the conversations light this morning, and only ate a couple pancakes Mabel made for breakfast. He was in too much of a hurry, as soon as he got permission from Soos to take the truck he grabbed the keys and sped out of the Shack. Eventually the plan was to fix up Soos’ old truck and that would become the twins’ first vehicle, but it hadn’t happened yet. Dipper and Mabel both knew how to drive Soos’ truck and Melody’s car if they needed to go anywhere anyway. Dipper quickly shifted the truck into gear and pulled out onto the road, he was going to go as fast as he legally could with the image of all that blood still haunting him.

His stomach flip flopped and his heart raced as he drove. Was the victim even awake? What would he say? Was this a good idea? The GFPD hadn’t exactly told him any details besides he was cleared to visit. Should he get a gift? Would the hospital allow that? Would his visit weird him out? As he sat at a red light he tried to steady his breathing, feeling his hands sweaty against the steering wheel and gear shift. He wished he knew this person’s name! He nearly had a heart attack when the car behind him honked and he realised the light had turned green while he was lost in thought. He quickly shifted and kept going. Jesus, why was he so nervous? Realistically, he knew why: he just really wanted the person he had to save to be okay, and he also didn’t know how well received that would be since he was a stranger. As he pulled into the hospital parking lot he started panicking that he didn’t get flowers or something, then felt like an idiot for that too. He took a moment to collect himself after he parked before he was calm enough to take the key out of the ignition and enter the hospital.

As he entered, he was relieved the lobby was mostly friendly looking. Still kinda sterile, but better than some places. He walked up to the front desk and the receptionist smiled at him. “How may I help you?” she asked sweetly. “I, uh...I’m Mason Pines. I’m here to see someone? The police told me to come in,” he answered nervously, feeling incredibly awkward without having the patient’s name. “Mason Pines, huh? Let me see...” she responded, quickly typing. “Ah, yes! You’re to be directed to room 143. Hmm, that’s odd, no patient name...maybe a security thing. Still, the police said to expect you. Here’s your visitor tag!” Dipper was handed a tag that he stuck to his T-shirt and the double doors into the hall were opened for him. He took a deep breath before continuing towards the wards. One of the staff informed him how to get to the specific room and he dryly nodded his thanks. It didn’t take long to find it, especially because two hospital security officers were near it. Maybe he was still a suspect after all.

He tried not to seem too unnerved as he passed by them to enter the room. He stayed just inside the doorway for a bit, surveying the room: the monitors, the IV, all the wires and even the chairs before he forced himself to look at the person laying in the bed. He was unconscious. Great, as if it couldn’t get more awkward. He anxiously entered and sat down to finally get a decent look at the person he saved. He had blond, messy hair, a kind of messy that suited his face. His skin had a dark-ish tint to it, and he was skinny. Dipper had already noticed it before, but he was really short; if Dipper had to guess he’d say there was no way he was taller than 4’5”. Dipper finally looked at the bandages over his right eye, relieved to see they weren’t bloody. Since it had been a few days that made sense. A nurse entered the room to check everything and Dipper decided to ask if he had been asleep the whole time. “Oh, he’s been in and out. He was actually awake earlier, but we had to sedate him. I’m surprised they’re letting him have visitors honestly,” she answered. “Why did you have to sedate him?” Dipper asked, immediately concerned. “Oh, when he came too he tried to rip the wires off. He seemed confused, he said a couple things we couldn’t understand. It’s not that weird though, we get plenty of people who are confused when they come to,” she reassured.

Dipper looked at the sleeping man thoughtfully and nodded. Inside he was worried though, if he said things the nurses didn’t understand, did that mean he didn’t speak English? He wasn’t sure what to do if that was the case. Twenty minutes after the nurse left the mystery patient was still asleep so Dipper left the room to find something to eat since he was in a hurry at breakfast. On the way back he became nervous again, what if he did wake up? Dipper slowly walked back in, intentionally ignoring the guards. To his relief, the patient hadn’t woken up while he was gone. He sat down and quietly opened the sandwich wrap he got himself at the hospital cafeteria. He began munching while thinking about what he’d do after this to keep his mind of his anxiety about what he was going to do if the nameless man woke up. Soon after finishing his lunch, Dipper was bored so he played on his phone and browsed some sites. Eventually his bad sleeping schedule that he had brought upon himself the day he found this same person dying caught up to him. He laid his head down on the small table by the chair, momentarily forgetting where he was.

Just as Dipper was about to lose consciousness he heard something, or someone. He looked up to the bed, blinking a few times as he saw the sleeping figure stirring. He swallowed, trying to calm himself. As the person sat up, Dipper quickly forced a smile and was about to introduce himself...until the stranger turned and their eyes met.

Dipper gasped and nearly jumped out of the chair when he realised the pupil of the eye looking at him now looked slit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for another cliffhanger I'm so sorry.
> 
> Also everyone loves tall Bill, I wanna appreciate short Bill.


End file.
